Line #36 VideoGame/SuperMarioKart


1	[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/super_mario_kart.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:349:Think that the big red plumber has done everything he has the opportunity to do? Try putting four wheels, an engine, and an incomprehensible amount of cement on him.]]
3	''Super Mario Kart'' (1992) is a RacingGame for the Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem that started the ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' series and, with it, a whole slew of MascotRacer imitators.
4
5	Due to technological limits, older driving games felt little like racing on a track and more like watching the track twist below you as other racers materialized or vanished at whim. In 1990, ''[[VideoGame/FZero F-Zero]]'' changed everything with the Super NES's Mode 7 hardware, finally creating a realistic system with a (technically fake[[note]]The aforementioned Mode 7 hardware could scale and rotate backgrounds, resulting in a 3D-like effect.[[/note]]) 3D track and real racers.
6
7	''Super Mario Kart'' utilized Mode 7 to make a fast, wacky, and thrilling challenge. Your racer must navigate the track--shown in the bottom split-screen -- rife with obstacles such as grass, pipes, oil slicks, fish, and many outright BottomlessPits. And the other racers will pose a threat on their own. Yes, both you and your opponents may pick up items to throw in each others' path; this is one of the many kart racing tropes ''Super Mario Kart'' started.
8
9	[[foldercontrol]]
10	[[folder:Drivers]]
11	* Bowser
12	* Donkey Kong Jr.
13	* Koopa Troopa
14	* Luigi
15	* Mario
16	* Peach
17	* Toad
18	* Yoshi
19	[[/folder]]
20
21	[[folder:Tracks]]
22	* Mushroom Cup
23	** [[TheBigRace Mario Circuit]] 1
24	** [[GreenHillZone Donut Plains]] 1
25	** [[BigBoosHaunt Ghost Valley]] 1
26	** [[LethalLavaLand Bowser Castle]] 1
27	** Mario Circuit 2
28	* Flower Cup
29	** [[DeathMountain Choco Island]] 1
30	** Ghost Valley 2
31	** Donut Plains 2
32	** Bowser Castle 2
33	** Mario Circuit 3
34	* Star Cup
35	** [[PalmtreePanic Koopa Beach]] 1
36	** Choco Island 2
37	** [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Vanilla Lake]] 1
38	** Bowser Castle 3
39	** Mario Circuit 4
40	* Special Cup
41	** Donut Plains 3
42	** Koopa Beach 2
43	** Ghost Valley 3
44	** Vanilla Lake 2
45	** [[AstralFinale Rainbow Road]]
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Battle Tracks]]
49	* [[GreenHillZone Battle Course 1]]
50	* [[PalmtreePanic Battle Course 2]]
51	* [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Battle Course 3]]
52	* [[TheBigRace Battle Course 4]]
53	[[/folder]]
54	----
55	!!The game features examples of these tropes:
56	* AIBreaker: On higher difficulties, the computer will always jump over a banana peel on the track if it could reasonably see it coming. On courses where you need to hit a jump panel to proceed (which is how this game handled "figure 8" sections), placing a banana right where the computer would drive would cause all of them to miss the jump and be stuck, giving the player a clean victory.
57	* AllInARow: Despite being a racing game, the AI follow behind each other perfectly and will never speed up or slow down unless they are out of the position they were in previously.
58	* AlwaysNight: The three Ghost Valley tracks. Justified due to the setting, as playing them during daytime would have diminished the spooky factor.
59	* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: The psychedelic Rainbow Road, ''Super Mario Kart'''s final track.
60	* ArtifactMook: The game has Monty Moles leaping out of the water in the Special Cup's first track. The developers probably didn't have enough processing power to use a more fitting enemy like a Cheep Cheep, so they had to reuse the Monty Moles you already find on-road.
61	* ArtificialStupidity: Unless interfered with, the computer racers would always follow the exact same racing lines. Learn where that line is on each course, and a human has a huge leg up on beating the computer.
62	* AstralFinale: Rainbow Road settles the series' tradition. It's an idyllic racetrack whose floor is colored with rainbow patterns, and it's located in outer space. But make no mistake: It's the final circuit for a reason, as its lack of borders and sharp turns make it pretty easy to fall down.
63	* AthleticArenaLevel: The game set the tradition in itself and subsequent installments of the ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' series of featuring at least one Mario-themed racetrack or circuit, being usually designed in the style of real-life Formula One circuits (many other courses in the series are based on other gimmicks and/or thematic settings, thus deviating from the conventional idea of racetracks). ''Super'' in particular also holds the record of having ''four'' Mario Circuits (the most in any ''Mario Kart'' game when only counting brand-new courses in later games), each being more complex layout-wise than the last. Later games introduce similarly-styled circuits hosted by other characters like Luigi or Princess Peach. And with rare exceptions, such tracks are found in the Mushroom and Flower Cups (Shell and Banana Cups for the [[NostalgiaLevel revisited courses]]).
64	* AwesomeButImpractical: Bowser and Donkey Kong Jr. having the highest top speed. In order to make use of this it requires about a lap and a decent amount of coins to get up to speed and relies on the player not colliding with any objects or other karts to stay there, which on the harder tracks can be next to impossible. The exception is in 150cc mode, where top speed is more easily reached and turns are easier to control and predict with the heavies. False starts can often be fully recovered in the first lap, which is next to impossible in 100cc.
65	* BalancePowerSkillGimmick: The playable characters are grouped into pairs: Mario and Luigi are balanced, Bowser and Donkey Kong Jr. have slow acceleration but high top speed, Yoshi and the Princess have fast acceleration but low traction, and Toad and the Koopa Troopa are the gimmick with high traction, but have low speed and weight.
66	* BananaPeel: This mainstay item of the ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' series started here, though you weren't able to drag it (along with the shells) behind you until ''64''.
67	* BigBoosHaunt: The Ghost Valley tracks, though the Boos just float in the background and don't interact with the racers.
68	* BottomlessPits: In the Ghost Valley tracks and Rainbow Road. Lakitu will fish racers who fall down for the price of two coins (or one, or zero, if you have less than two. He's a nice guy like that.)
69	* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the original Japanese version, Bowser and Peach [[INeedAFreakingDrink would drink from the champagne bottle]] upon winning first place at the awards ceremony. It was changed in international versions to simply tossing the bottle around.
70	* BreakablePowerUp: Getting bumped by another racer removes a coin.
71	* TheBusCameBack: Toad returns after being [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome left out]] of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''. This is also Donkey Kong Jr.'s first appearance, playable or otherwise, since 1982.
72	* CantHoldHisLiquor: They give the winner a bottle of champagne; they don’t drink it in the American version, but they do in the original Japanese. Bowser even gulps the entire bottle, but seeing as he’s a huge turtle-monster, he doesn’t even get tipsy. Peach, on the other hand, if she’s the winner, does the same thing, and gets seriously soused. For reference, champagne is about 12% alcohol content, so this scene comes as a shock to any American player.
73	* {{Cap}}: The game caps your time at 10 minutes and stops moving after that.
74	* CarFu: Heavier karts can bully lighter ones, especially if one racer has been shrunk or is using a Star.
75	* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Somewhat enforced; the limited processing power of the time meant that treating all the AI racers like human players would have been very taxing on the system, so their algorithms had to remain very simple (they drive on a fixed path they can only deviate from in very limited manners). In order to make up for their shortcomings, they have a number of abilities the human players do not:
76	** They don't follow the same rules as items go; each enemy racer can use only two items (a "signature" item such as Mario and Luigi's star or Princess [Peach] and Toad's poison mushroom, plus the Feather for avoiding obstacles), but they can be used ''at will''. Its JustForFun/{{egregious}} use of multiple items without visiting an item box (as the player character has to) is perhaps best demonstrated when a stationary computer uses five or six feathers in a row to avoid an item just under its wheels. Additionally, if you hit an [=AI=] kart that's been shrunk by Lightning Bolts, they merely spin out rather than getting SquashedFlat the way human players will. Besides this, [=AI=] drivers can drive right through on-road obstacles like warp pipes.
77	** Additionally the AI players will change their track positions deliberately to block you. On lower difficulties it's most obvious that Mario and Luigi are doing it, but on 150cc cups ALL the [=NPC=]s will do this, including arcing wide on the corners to hit you ''as you're turning''. If you're using the L and R buttons to power slide around for tighter cornering this can completely ruin your trajectory.
78	** The AI is also impervious to all objects aside from weapons and other racers. This is most obvious in Bowser Castle 2, where four thwomps with unlucky RNG can trap you for seconds, while you watch the AI drive right through them. On the other hand, the AI can't steal your powerup boxes or use boost arrows either.
79	** The AI opponents will drive through the courses as though they're ''riding on a hidden rail'', taking hairpin turns flawlessly at high speed whereas the player will always struggle to avoid overshooting on them.
80	* ContinuingIsPainful: Not only does losing a race (or opting for the "Give Up" option) require you to spend a life to replay the course, any position you entered the first attempt with is disregarded so you start in the middle (or even the rear) of the pack.
81	* CreepyCircusMusic: The losing fanfare plays a DarkReprise of "Entry of the Gladiators" at 240 beats per minute for two seconds before dragging out the last note.
82	* DamnYouMuscleMemory: The ''Mario Kart'' games usually have the "A" button used as the accelerator. This doesn't work here, because "A" is used for items and accelerating is done with the "B" button while the same button is used as the brakes in all later games.
83	* DeathMountain: The two Choco Island circuits, being based on the mountainous area of the same name seen in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', look like a canyon road, and the liquid sections gives the impression to race in dirt.
84	* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: A frequent strategy used when playing against the computer in Grand Prix mode of a racing game like this is to hang back a bit near the end to sabotage the leading AI opponent so that the player would gain a greater point advantage. This is actually much better with two players, at least before the latest version specifically disallowed this strategy. One player hugs the turns and goes for speed, while the other plays demolition derby, hangs back in third or fourth place, where they get the good weapons, and mows down the competition for the speed player.
85	* DifficultButAwesome: In Rainbow Road, you can use a mushroom to give yourself the boost you need in combination with a jump bumper to cross a large gap for a shortcut. But it takes a hell lot of practice to execute this move right, getting the distance correct and also not losing speed before turning to this point.
86	* ADogNamedDog: The Lakitu referee is named Fishin' Lakitu in the Japanese version.
87	* DolledUpInstallment: This was originally going to be a generic racing game meant solely to provide a 2-player counterpart to the 1-player hit ''VideoGame/FZero'' a few years earlier. When the [=SNES=] couldn't handle this they decided to make a kart racing game with generic characters. During production someone suggested seeing what it would look like to put Mario in a go-kart, and history was made.
88	* DrunkenGlow: In the Japanese version, Peach and Bowser drink champagne in their winning animations. They both get drunken glows.
89	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Despite the claims of StrictlyFormula regarding the rest of the series, ''Super'' is a somewhat different beast compared to the formula that ''64'' would create:
90	** [=AI=] karts have special powers discussed above under TheComputerIsACheatingBastard, the deck is nowhere near as stacked against you if you're ahead, there's a coin-for-speed boost mechanic that wouldn't be touched upon again until ''Super Circuit'' and ''7'', and the Blue Shell didn't exist (which the European VC release trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLixS7ZNV_c mercilessly lampshades.]])
91	** The steering mechanics in this game are slippery and sensitive.[[note]]Then again, the Super NES controller is digital only, like most console controllers were at the time.[[/note]] Very delicate input is needed just to stay on the road and not end up hitting the walls or falling off. ''Mario Kart: Super Circuit'' carries on with similar mechanics. And instead of the traditional item boxes, there are item tiles, which each can be used up once per track, and since there's only one batch of item panels on each track, players will under most cases be limited to only one item per lap.
92	** While this game has hints of the sliding scale {{Competitive Balance}} between precise but slow lightweights and powerful but slippy heavyweights, there are also the acceleration class characters who, unlike following games, are less precise than all-around characters.
93	** Each race has 5 laps, which hasn't been used in future games that opted for a standard of 3 laps due to the first game having simpler track designs and shorter length. Each cup also featured five courses instead of four, which gave this game the oddball total of twenty courses (future games always had course counts in multiples of eight due to the redesigned cup structure).
94	** Up until ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' (even then, one more year passed before the update that added him went live), ''Super Mario Kart'' was the only game in the series to feature Donkey Kong Jr. as a playable character, and the only one to date to have him rather than Donkey Kong himself, though this is due to this game predating the release of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'' by a couple of years. Wario is also absent, though this game came out a few months before ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'', so it makes sense.
95	** The game uses lives, and it's possible to not even finish a grand prix due to running out of lives for not placing in the top 4. The following two installments would keep this feature (though the number of lives is infinite in ''64'') before dropping it altogether in ''Double Dash!!''.
96	** Each driver had their own ranking music, as opposed to the later games' standardized tunes.
97	** Power sliding works differently. You just tap the L or R button to jump while turning, and you'll do a power slide. There are no mini-turbos in this game, and power sliding in this game requires different timing. If you mess up, you more likely to lose the race than win.
98	** Both the Special Cup and 150cc mode have to be unlocked in this game. Furthermore, [[EasyModeMockery you have to play in 100cc mode]], and win gold in all three cups to unlock the Special Cup. You also have to win the Special Cup in the same mode to unlock 150cc mode. The Switch Online version has an SP version that lets you play 150cc and the Special Cup from the get-go.
99	** There are only a handful of racing environments and instead a single setting can host several track configurations. Later games set each course in its own unique environment (the only exceptions being ''Super Circuit'' which have four Bowser Castle courses, and ''Mario Kart Tour'' which features multiple variants for the city tracks as well as most RMX courses).. Additionally, all of the tracks except for Mario Circuit, Koopa Beach, and Rainbow Road were explicitly based off settings from Super Mario World, while later games were a bit more creative on where tracks were set up.
100	** There is no goal gate at the finish line. (''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'' and onwards start adding goal gates to Finish Lines to courses that come from this game, one example being Mario Circuit 3.)
101	** Item boxes (or panels, in this case) were one-time-only uses. In all future games, item boxes respawn after use.
102	** AI opponents had their own unique items to use against you (or had infinite supply of a normal item) due to a programming quirk that didn't allow the AI to grab items from panels like the player could. All future games would have the AI be able to snag items from item boxes, though ''VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash'' would bring back the "unique item based on character" gimmick.
103	** All the tracks are quite narrow, which can be troublesome for people who are more used to the wider tracks in the sequels.
104	** The Feather item lets you make a big jump, allowing for possible shortcuts. This item would not appear again until nearly two decades later in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' where it's restricted to battle mode.
105	** Battle mode consisted of only balloon battle and nothing else. Later games would add more kinds of battle modes to spice it up.
106	** The grand prix celebration would have the winner interact with a champaign bottle in some way (Peach and Bowser would actually drink from it in the Japanese version). Later games would not do this.
107	** The "Super" in the game's title wasn't meant to indicate that it was a Super Nintendo game, contrary to ''Mario Kart'' being a series with several SuperTitle64Advance titles, but a ''Franchise/SuperMario'' one. ''VideoGame/MarioKart64'' was going to have a "Super" in its title as well via its working title of "Super Mario Kart R", but it instead was the actual start of the aforementioned Super Title 64 Advance names.
108	* EarnYourBadEnding: Because finishing below 4th results in the loss of a life, you have to try to finish in 4th as much as possible in order to end a Grand Prix off the podium. It's far more challenging than it sounds.
109	* EarnYourFun: Want to play the Special Cup? Can't do it on 50cc! You must beat the Mushroom, Flower, and Star Cups on 100cc with a gold trophy on each and then you are allowed to play on the Special Cup. Want to race faster in the 150cc class? Prove you can beat the Special Cup with a gold trophy on 100cc first. Later games opted to be more lenient with their unlockables, but you usually have to get the best rank just to get anything.
110	* EasyModeMockery: The game doesn't allow you to race in the Special Cup on 50cc. You have to play on at least 100cc to see it.
111	* EdibleThemeNaming: Taking cues from ''Super Mario World'', given that many tracks are based on its main locations, this game has the Donut Plains, Vanilla Lake and Choco Island stages.
112	* EveryoneHasASpecialMove: All characters in the game have their own special attacks ([[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard if they're being used]] [[SecretAIMoves by the A.I.]]).
113	* ExclusiveEnemyEquipment: The [=AI=] versions of Bowser can throw out fireballs that can be difficult to avoid due to its circular movement pattern while Peach and Toad have Poison Mushrooms, which shrink the victim like Lightning Bolts. Yoshi can toss his signature Eggs, which act like a Green Shell if ran into.
114	* FakeDifficulty: If Mario or Luigi are CPU characters, ''they can become invincible whenever they want.'' This is especially a problem on both 100cc and 150cc difficulties.
115	* FormulaWithATwist: This game took the world and lovable mascot characters of the ''Mario'' franchise and presented them in MascotRacer format, along with gimmicky tracks and wacky items/weapons to stand apart from each other.
116	* FragileSpeedster: This game has two examples of the "quick to start, hard to catch up" racing game variant.
117	** Peach and Yoshi have the best acceleration, but average weight and top speed. Unlike the following games, they also have a traction as bad as heavyweights.
118	** Koopa and Toad are more classical examples, having the best traction and the second to best acceleration in the game, but being the lightest characters and the slowest racers on long term.
119	* GlassCannon: Mario and Luigi have a good top speed and handling, but only subpar acceleration, and while their middleweight makes them stronger at full speed, they're still vulnerable to heavyweights' attacks.
120	* GoKartingWithBowser: The TropeNamer. This became the first game in the ''Mario'' franchise where Bowser would participate in a sports event alongside his sworn enemies without any issue.
121	* GravityBarrier: The Ghost Valley tracks and Rainbow Road.
122	* GreenHillZone: The four Mario Circuits are located somewhere in the greens. The three Donut Plains tracks play this trope straighter: the track actually is dirt and Monty Moles can stop your progression.
123	* HomeStage: While some tracks have a character's name in it, the credits associate the eight final versions of the tracks to one character:
124	** Luigi has Mario Circuit 4.
125	** Peach has Donut Plains 3.
126	** Yoshi has Ghost Valley 3
127	** Bowser, obviously, has Bowser Castle 3.
128	** Donkey Kong Jr. has Choco Island 2.
129	** Koopa has, of course, Koopa Beach 2.
130	** Toad has Vanilla Lake 2.
131	** Mario has Rainbow Road.
132	* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: Each difficulty level affects how fast you and the AI will go. 50cc=Easy (You will easily lap the AI). 100cc=Normal (The AI can keep up a little bit, but you will be a bit faster than they are). 150cc=Hard (You and the AI race incredibly fast and it's difficult to keep a lead on them).
133	* IncredibleShrinkingMan: The Poison Mushroom, [[SecretAIMoves exclusive to Toad and Peach]], shrinks anyone who touches it, rather than just dealing damage and shrinking by proxy as it did in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels''. This shrinking behaves the same as Lightning from later games, slowing the driver and making them vulnerable to being flattened.
134	* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence: Because of the SNES's and GBA's technical limitations, both this game and ''VideoGame/MarioKartSuperCircuit'' have to display two-dimensional blocks to mark the impassible boundaries of the racetracks, even though seem perfectly capable of hopping over them. Starting with ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'', whenever tracks from these two games are brought back for [[NostalgiaLevel Retro Cups]], the barriers are made taller than the racers but are no longer impassible.
135	* InvincibleMinorMinion: There are invincible Thwomps on Rainbow Road. Touching them makes you spin out and lose coins. Even the Star item does nothing to them.
136	* JackOfAllStats: The two middleweight classes of the game offer two variations of this trope.
137	** Mario and Luigi are good for starter players who want to experiment greater speeds: they have middle-of-the-road acceleration, off-road performance, and weight, their handling is decent, and their top speed actually is better than Peach and Yoshi, but not as good as DK Jr. and Bowser.
138	** Peach and Yoshi are for intermediate players: they have an average top speed and their slippery makes them hard to drive, but coupled with their acceleration, it is also a good introduction to heavyweights' controls.
139	* LethalLavaLand: The three Bowser's Castle tracks have lava as the bottomless pits.
140	* LightningBruiser: Donkey Kong Jr. and Bowser have the heaviest karts which are also slow to accelerate, however this is balanced by having the highest top speed in the game, making them this trope at the hands of well-trained players.
141	* LosingHorns: The game plays the first ten notes of "[[CreepyCircusMusic Entry of the Gladiators]]" if you fail to place on the podium.
142	* MascotRacer: This game is the TropeMaker. Though silly racing games existed before, this game set the standard for the genre.
143	* MightyGlacier: Bowser and Donkey Kong Jr. are standard examples of the "slow to start, hard to stop" racing game variant of this trope. While their top speed is high, their slow acceleration and [[DifficultButAwesome poor handling]] make it tough for them to actually reach and maintain it. However, their heavy weight means they can smack lighter characters around the track.
144	* MovesetClone: There are no less than FOUR pairs. Mario and Luigi play to each other (as well as being JackOfAllStats), but Donkey Kong Jr. and Bowser (best top speed), Yoshi and The Princess (best acceleration), and Koopa and Toad (best handling) also form their own pairs. The following ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' games have continued this tradition, with ''Double Dash!!'' taking it to larger extents.
145	* MultiplayerOnlyItem: The "Ghost" item is only useful in purely competitive multiplayer ("Match Race" and "Battle Mode"), and thus is only enabled in these modes.
146	* MyRulesAreNotYourRules: There are multiple differences between you and the computer players: Your car's max speed is determined by how many coins you have. You lose coins when you hit someone or fall off the track. The other cars? They don't even ''have'' coins. They can't even pick them up. So while you hitting them means you slow down, it means nothing for them besides being hit. Then there's the powerups; ''you'' have to drive over a power-up block to get a random power-up, while '''they''' don't get random power-ups, but rather each AI character has a single kind of powerup that they use at regular intervals. Donkey Kong throws banana peels, Princess Toadstool drops mushrooms, Mario and Luigi can spontaneously ''turn invincible'', etc. They only use these powerups against ''[[GangUpOnTheHuman you]]''; they will only activate them if they are exactly one place in front of or one place behind the player.
147	* OilSlick: A frequent hazard in the Mario Circuits. Driving onto one will cause the player's vehicle to slip and lose balance, so dodging them will be vital to avoid losing the races, especially on the higher difficulty levels.
148	* OneStatToRuleThemAll: While all stats actually have their importance, top speed becomes the central value in 150cc because of the RubberBandAI and time trial (if you want to beat a world record). On the other hand, handling is the most important value in battle mode.
149	* OrchestraHitTechnoBattle: The BattleThemeMusic Bowser used in his FinalBoss battle from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' is remixed in this game for his Castle circuits.
150	* PalmtreePanic: Koopa Beach 1 and 2 actually lack palmtrees, but happen on a beach, imply to race on water, and deeper water sections are the equivalent of bottomless pits.
151	* PlayerExclusiveMechanic: Opponents in a race are unable to use items generated from item boxes. The AI compensates in [[SecretAIMoves several]] [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard ways]].
152	* PoisonMushroom: The TropeNamer itself appears when placed on the track by a CPU-controlled Princess Peach or Toad, and shrinks any driver who touches it.
153	* PowerUpLetdown: The coin item is a letdown, since you have nothing to defend yourself with until the next item block and it just adds 2 coins to your total.
154	* PublicDomainSoundtrack: The game uses the beginning of "Entry of the Gladiators" for its [[LosingHorns "Ranked Out" fanfare]].
155	* TheRival: Depending on who the player drives as, there will be certain characters that perform better and try their best to annoy the player. The rival will always be the same for each character, and that rival will do their best to not let you win. For example, pick Koopa Troopa and the CPU giving you the most trouble will be Luigi, but pick Luigi and Yoshi will suddenly give you the most grief, and so on.[[note]]The position of each character is always determined based on who you pick and your rival is always the racer in 1st or 2nd place, depending on whether you're 1st or 2nd on the leader board. Should your rival fall behind in the standings, whoever is next on the list will become the new rival. In the above example, if Luigi were to fall severely behind, then, assuming he doesn't fall behind in the same race as well, Yoshi would be the new rival.[[/note]] Every character is the rival of another, and the selectable characters on the upper half of the menu have a stronger rival than the one below[[note]]For example, Mario's rival is the heavy Donkey Kong Jr. while Luigi's is the nervous but imprecise Yoshi[[/note]].
156	* RubberBandAI: Pretty severe, and especially occurs if a computer that has earned many points in the GP falls behind. A rather interesting case with this trope is the AI will only rubber band back to their original position that matches their standings. For example, if an AI controlled Mario was ranked 3rd in the standings and he gets knocked down a few spots during a race, he'll only rubber band back to 3rd place and won't push for 2nd or 1st.
157	* SecretAIMoves: The game does this with each character having nicely documented moves in the manual specifically that only the A.I. can use against you. For example, Bowser throws fireballs, Peach and Toad throw {{poison mushroom}}s, and the Mario Bros. can use stars practically at will. This was likely implemented for game balance, since A.I. racers cannot use regular items.
158	* SequenceBreaking: Usually, many 2D racing games don't properly check that the player has actually gone all the way around the track, they just check if they cross the finish line from the right direction; this leads to you being able to start the race, drive backwards (or make a quick U-turn) over the finish line, and then cross it again forwards. But this game used a "backwards" counter to prevent this scenario: Any time you cross the finish line backwards, it increases the counter, and any time you cross the finish line properly, it decreases the counter. The only way to get a proper lap is to cross the finish line properly while the counter is zero. On some maps, the finish line stops at the wall, which means a ''very'' lucky jump at the wall can bypass this mechanism altogether.
159	* SlippySlideyIceWorld: The two Vanilla Lake tracks are the first installments: while the first is a classical snow level, the second (which is the fourth track in Special Cup, making it the penultimate track of the game) actually features a giant cold water lake which requires precision to not fall in it. There's also Battle Course 3, an enclosed battlefield set within the wintry area of Vanilla Lake.
160	* SkillGateCharacters: While Koopa and Toad are perfect for beginners because of their good acceleration and traction, they CantCatchUp at higher levels because of their poor top speed and light weight.
161	* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The only female character in this game is Peach.
162	* SlippySlideyIceWorld: The Vanilla Lake tracks have ice blocks disturbing your progression and the second one implies you avoiding to fall in the giant cold water lake.
163	* SmashingSurvival: Monty Moles jump out of holes onto to front of your kart, slowing you down and blocking your vision. You have to hop quickly and repeatedly to shake them off.
164	* SpitefulAI: All non-player characters have unique attacks in Grand Prix mode, like Mario and Luigi's invincibility, Bowser's fireballs, or Yoshi's eggs, but they will never use them against each other and will be perfectly happy to remain in whatever spot they started the race in. But if ''you'' come up behind them, or you had the insolence to take ''their'' spot, they'll go berserk and throw their attacks at you.
165	* SuperDrowningSkills: Players have only a few seconds to drive out of deep water before Lakitu is forced to pick them up.
166	* SuperTitle64Advance: While the game was initially not an example (as the name was an indicator it was a spinoff based on the ''Super Mario Bros.'' games), it retroactively became one when subsequent titles dropped the "super".
167	* UmbrellaOfTogetherness: In the Japanese version, the title screen has a Love Umbrella with Mario's and Peach's names under it.
168	* UnendingEndCard: You'll need to reset the game to continue playing after "THE END" screen if you end up rolling the credits.
169	* UnlockableDifficultyLevels: The game has two difficulty levels at first (50cc and 100cc). Obtaining Gold Cup in the three standard Cups will unlock Special Cup, and obtaining Gold there will unlock 150cc ([[EasyModeMockery obtaining Gold Cups in 50cc won't unlock anything, not even Special Cup]]).
170	* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: Rainbow Road is the only course theme that isn't repeated, making it extra clear that it's the game's grand finale.
171	* VideoGameLives: The only ''Mario Kart'' game alongside ''Super Circuit'' to use them [[note]]''64'' also allows you to retry a course you failed, but unlike these games, you don't have limits to it[[/note]]. Rank in lower than 4th, and you lose a life. Lose all your lives, and it's GameOver, forcing you to start the cup over.
172	* WackyRacing: The cast of Mario characters racing in go-karts in exotic tracks while hurling objects at each other certainly fits the trope.

Context VideoGame / SuperMarioKart